Chapter Thirty-nine: Gretche's Revenge

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Chapter Thirty-nine: Gretche's Revenge, or, I Die

"IN-TRU-D-" the Dalek managed to cry, before Albus subdued it with a well-placed severing charm.
"They all know now," I said quietly. The others nodded.
We crept along the wall to the next room. I glanced around the corner, wand at the ready. It appeared deserted. I waved them onwards, and we slunk in.
The room was large, with walls, ceiling, and floors of rough-hewn stone. Several Dalek Terminals sat on the floor, glowing faintly, looking quite out of place among the stone and cobwebs. I couldn't, luckily enough, see a single Dalek.
We hurried over to the next opening. Suddenly, I smashed into an invisible wall and fell back, feeling my nose crunch. Something warm and metallic-smelling began to seep down my face, and I cursed quietly in Gallifreyan.
Out of the shadows stepped Professor Gretche. His eyes were sunken into his skeletal face, which was covered in pale, waxy skin that gave the appearance of being stretched tight over a skull. His bony hand held his wand, and he pointed it threateningly at me.
"He looks... like a corpse," said Natalie quietly.
He turned his lifeless eyes to me, and sure enough, there was a faint blue glow beneath the skin of his forehead.
"That's because," I replied, my voice sounding stuffed, as the eyestalk burst from his forehead, "He's dead."
"So, Dalek!" I said, in what I hoped was a loud, boisterous, conversational tone. "Whatcha doin' today?"
The Puppet Gretche cocked his head mechanically before replying.
"I- am- here- to- defeat- your- world," it said. "It- shall- crumble."
"You know what? I don't think it will!" I replied brightly.
"The- Daleks- are- in- position. Nothing- can- stop- us- now."
"Nothing? I suppose... Except for the deactivation of your central computer. That might stop you," I smiled, like it was just a harmless idea.
"The- computer- is- impregnable. It- is- protected- by- a- magical- wall."
"So it's right in that room."
"I- did- not- reveal- this- in-for-mation!!"
I grinned cockily. "Can't stop us now! We're magical, and you're NOT!"
"Statement- incorrect." said Gretche, in a horrifically flat tone.
He leveled his wand at me. I felt the grin fall from my face.
"Run," I muttered. "Destroy the computer. Use Confringo. Then get out of here. I'll hold them off,"
The three shot me concerned looks, especially Ari, who looked unbearably sad at this statement.
Luckily, they followed my instructions, blowing apart the magical barrier.
Gretche stared emptily at me, looking as though he was sizing me up like a pig for slaughter. I repressed the thought.
I heard a cry in the other room and began to walk slowly back, retaining eye contact with the zombified Professor. He- no, it- gazed right back.
As soon as I made it into the other room, I sprinted around the corner, breaking eye contact. I hadn't realized I was holding my breath until I was sucking in great lungfuls of the stale, dusty air.
The room, as expected, held the large Dalek Central Computer. Which happened to by guarded by Daleks. Which were cornering my friends.
"Hey!" I yelled. "Slimy, squiddy, cowardly Daleks!"
All of the Daleks whipped around and pointed their rays at me. One of my hearts skipped a beat, and I felt terror wash over me, terror the Dalek Puppet had not brought to me. This monster had destroyed my home planet, and now it was going to destroy this one too.
I wouldn't let that happen.
I shot Ari, Albus, and Natalie a significant glance, like, "Blow up the computer, please and thank you," before turning my attention to the Daleks.
"So, why do you want Earth? Lovely little Skaro not nice enough for you? Oh, wait, sorry, Skaro is dead."
"WHY DOES IT KNOW OF SKA-RO?" piped the red one in front.
"INITIATING SCAN!" piped a yellow one behind.
There was a beat of silence, before, "SCAN COMPLETE! RESULTS ARE NEGATIVE!"
The other Daleks seemed whipped into a frenzy by this news.
"NEGATIVE!!"
"NEGATIVE?!"
I shot another look, and this time a nod, at my friends. Ari raised his wand and cried, "Confringo!"
The Dalek computer erupted in a mass of sparks. The Daleks who were closing in on me suddenly spun around, observing the scene.
"THE DALEK COMPUTER IS DESTROYED! THE OPERATION IS A FAILIURE! COMMENCE OPERATION B!"
Daleks and several puppets began pouring in from both doors, filling the room. I was seperated from the other two by a wall of Daleks, and there was nothing I could do...
"Except fight!" cried a fiery little voice in the back of my mind. "You've got a magic wand! Blast them to bits!".
I drew my wand threateningly, crying out, "Wingardium Leviosa!", the first spell that came to mind. With a flick, I sent one Dalek flying backwards into all the others, bowling several over and incapacitating at least three. I could hear the satisfying sound of wrenching metal. "Confringo!" I cried, and one Dalek blew to smithereens, taking out several others. I didn't need powerful magic, just well-planned spells. I pointed my wand at Gretche, who had come into the room.
"What does it feel like to be a wizard who can't do magic?" I taunted.
"I- would- not- know," it droned. "Avada-Kedavra!"
It seemed as though the world slowed.
I could hear, quite loudly, Ari's scream of "NO!", Natalie's cry, Albus' gasp. as the bolt of green light sped towards me. They, the two eleven-year-olds and a thirteen-year-old, had already taken out almost a quarter of the Daleks in the room. I saw Gretche's emotionless face, and heard the most curious scraping sort of noise, before the spell hit me.
It was as though I was floating away, in the blank, calm, empty void, for a split second before the pain hit.
It hurt.
A lot.
And then my arms erupted into golden Regenerative Energy, destroying a good five or so Daleks, not to mention Gretche. The scraping sound grew louder before all sounds were wiped from my head but the pounding of my hearts and someone- probably me- yelling.
My arms shrank back into my body, but I sprouted upward a good few inches. My hair crept back into my scalp, and I could feel it getting thicker and less soft. My eyes burned. Come to think of it, so did my whole head. And body. And arms. And legs.
I saw, out of the edge of my vision, a great blue Box appear where Natalie and Ari and Albus had been standing, and then the world shrank down to a pinpoint and disappeared.

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